Follow us on

Exit through the Gift Shop

Whether he directed it or not, and whether it's even "true" or not, the film debut of guerrilla artist Banksy both preserves his anonymity and his integrity, providing the perfect showcase for his dark, subversive wit. Using talking heads, archive footage and a voiceover from Rhys Ifans, this documentary-within-a-documentary finds a hooded, disguised Banksy recalling how he became involved with LA-based Frenchman Thierry Guetta. A fan of street art who followed Banksy and his peers with a video camera, Guetta purported to be a film-maker, although no film ever appeared. Instead, enabled by his subjects, Guetta opted to become an artist himself, making awful, mass-produced graffiti art that, ironically, has become as valuable as the work it emulates. Slick, sharp and fantastically entertaining, this is a film that works not just as a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of helping strangers but also on a deeper level as a crafty meditation on art, its true value and our own gullibility.

Plot Summary

Documentary, narrated by Rhys Ifans, in which French film-maker Thierry Guetta charts the rise of the street art movement and talks to the main protagonist, the elusive Banksy.